Three big wins for Obama in lame-duck session

Mark Wilson/Getty ImagesPresident Barack Obama smiles while greeting members of the audience after signing legislation repealing the "don't ask, don't tell" law against gays serving openly in the military. on December 22, 2010 in Washington, DC.

It’s been a historic two weeks for a president humiliated by his self-described "shellacking" in the November midterm elections. It’s possible some of Bill Clinton’s "Comeback Kid" magic may have rubbed off on President Obama during their joint press conference a few weeks ago. He chalked up three big wins as the year comes to a close:

• The repeal of "don’t ask, don’t tell" after 17 years will finally allow gay men and women who are brave enough to serve their country to live their lives in the open.

• Passage of the nuclear treaty with Russia that scales back nuclear warheads on both sides, made possible by 11 Senate Republicans joining with Democrats.

• Tax cuts for the middle class. Not all of the victories smell sweet, and this one left a particularly sour aftertaste. Republicans were successful in holding the middle class and unemployed hostage to their $60 billion tax breaks for the very wealthy. They got Obama to cave on extending the Bush tax cuts for the upper brackets in exchange for tax relief for the middle class and the extension of unemployment benefits, among other things. The battle resumes when the tax cuts expire two years from now.

It was a lame-duck session to remember. The American public got a glimpse of the kind of bipartisanship that Obama vowed to bring to Washington two years ago.

There were some disappointments, of course: In a press conference yesterday, Obama lamented that the DREAM Act, which would have given children brought into the United States illegally a chance to earn citizenship through military service and college attendance, failed to pass, as did a long-term budget. But the session’s accomplishments show "we are not doomed to endless gridlock," Obama said.

Obama and the Democrats have only a short time to savor their victories. Mitch McConnell, the Senate minority leader from Kentucky, is already trash-talking about next year and the newly emboldened Republican Party’s ability to slow down the Obama agenda. "If they think it’s bad now," McConnell said, "wait till next year."